But he’s also concerned that Kennedy is going to slow down the fight with a game plan from coach Greg Jackson.

“I’m not the biggest fan of Greg Jackson game plans, so I just hope he comes out and fights me in the middle, and fights me everywhere,” Rockhold said Tuesday during a conference call in support of the July event. “It’s mixed martial arts. I quit wrestling for a reason, so I want to fight, and I’m looking for a fight.”

“Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy” takes place July 14 at Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. The event’s main card airs live on Showtime, while prelims go to Showtime Extreme.

Jackson again is at the center of controversy following a lackluster headliner between Clay Guida and Gray Maynard at this past Friday’s UFC on FX 4. UFC president Dana White afterward pointed to the veteran coach as the cause of Guida’s tactical, stick-and-move approach to the five-round fight, which was loudly booed toward its end and widely criticized online.

Rockhold, who makes his second title defense against Kennedy, said Guida’s performance was part and parcel of the game plans employed by Jackson fighters, including his upcoming opponent. While praising the intelligence of such plans – and admitting he himself was a meticulous game planner – he criticized their result.

“I mean, they have a smart game plan; they follow the game plan,” Rockhold said of Jackson fighters. “It’s not the most exciting game plan most of the time, but it wins them fights sometimes. It doesn’t excite me much; I’m not a big fan of his style.

“[Jackson] also yells the guys’ names in the corner – ‘Great job. Wonderful low kick, Tim Kennedy,’ and this and that. I think [he] tries to play into the minds of the judges a lot. It’s a form of cheating, to some extent. So I’m there to fight. I’m confident in my abilities, and I’m not going to let this fight slow down, and whatever he brings to the table, it’s not really going to matter because I’m going to play my game.”

Kennedy, who often works with Jackson when not training in Austin, Texas, said he plans to avoid Rockhold’s strengths and play to his own during the title fight. But when pressed to respond to the champion’s comments on the coach, he said criticism of Jackson is unfounded.

“That same night when people were harassing Clay Guida for his performance (at UFC on FX 4), we had the ‘Knockout of the Night’ with Cub Swanson going out there and doing some insanity in the cage to finish one of the best kickboxers in that division,” Kennedy said. “Did anybody mention what a great performance Swanson had (against Ross Pearson) … and hey, congratulations, Greg Jackson, for having ‘Knockout of the Night?’ No. They’re like, ‘Clay was running.’ Well, Gray hits really hard and he’s a really great wrestler.

“I think that Clay had nearly the perfect game plan for that fight. It wasn’t flawlessly executed; he could have done more sticking than he did moving, but he had the right idea. It was an extremely close fight.”

“You can’t blame Greg for any of this stuff,” he said. “He doesn’t come up with a game plan thinking, ‘Oh, we should do this because it would be real boring.’ He comes up with spots where you can neutralize your opponent’s strengths and capitalize on his weaknesses, just like any other coach would do. He just happens to be very good at it, and I think it’s ridiculous, these guys blaming a coach for a game plan [when] fights turn out boring.”

Less than two years ago at UFC 122, White blamed Jackson for Marquardt’s lackluster showing against Yushin Okami in a middleweight title eliminator. Jackson, who coaches out of Albuquerque, N.M., alongside striking coach Mike Winkeljohn, promptly defended himself against the criticism when he issued a press release detailing the honors and quick finishes of his team in 2010.

Although he elected to work in his native Denver for his upcoming fight, Marquardt called Jackson “an excellent coach” and said the criticism has been misdirected.

“The fighter has to take the criticism there because your job is to go in there and fight,” he said.

From Our Partners

The Latest

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?